by Roberta (Los Ranchos NM): If someone had told me that I would fall in love with a book that was about gaming and gamers, I wouldn’t have believed them. But this is exactly what happened when I read this book. At the beginning of the book, when Sam sees his friend Sadie and finally gets her attention by yelling “Sadie you died of dysentery” (referring to the old Oregon Trail game), I was hooked. I’m not a gamer, but I did play the Oregon Trail back in the 80s. It was a fabulous game.
The main characters, Sam and Sadie become friends when Sam is in the hospital recovering from a car accident that left his foot mangled and Sadie is at the hospital with her ill sister. Sam and Sadie play games together and discover that they complement each other. Over time they become partners in developing computer games.
The book follows Sam and Sadie as partners and friends. There are huge chunks of time where they don’t speak to each other. There are storylines with other characters who are important in their lives and these characters too are fascinating.
I cared deeply for Sam and Sadie and the author does a wonderful job of making them seem like real people, mainly because they are lovable and flawed.
The book blends reality and gaming together and at times the action takes place inside a game.
It’s just brilliant and funny too. I loved this book.